AlaMoi

various components are manually removed from the circuit boards, the rest is ground up into tiny pieces. the valuable metals - think gold - are extracted by chemically dissolving "everything else" there is no 'black plastic waste stream'

I've opened up a lot of computers, some tv's . . . the theory that there's so much black plastic in there is , , , , well - let's say unfounded.... and if the author had any inkling of how e-waste is ground up for metals extraction, that would be a revelation.

it's a really easy one - ============== 2 cups all purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 cup / 100g sugar - or more if berries are tart 1 stick melted unsalted butter 1 slightly beaten egg 3/4 cup whole milk - 187g 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries - up to 2 cups (2c=275g) for sprinkling 1/2 cup brown or white granulated sugar Directions Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin. << makes 9 in my kitchen.... In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and sugar. In another bowl, combine butter, egg, and milk and mix well. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and with a spatula, stir until just combined. Do not beat or over mix; it’s okay if there are lumps in the batter. Gently fold the blueberries into the batter. Spoon the batter into the muffin tray, filling each cup about 2/3 full. Bake for 10 minutes and remove from the oven. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the granulated brown or white sugar and return the muffins to the oven to bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool for about 10 minutes in the pan before turning the muffins out. ==========

a repeat on Paula Dean's butter&sugar blueberry muffins - these are just yummy....

Alton Brown's Vegetable Soup - since it's always better next day, this is a Sunday prep for next week. fresh in the pot - still needs some souping time . . .

this is likely true to a very high degree - but, , , , being a recalcitrant me . . . whisking stuff like eggs in a bowl, for scrambled eggs . . . no - I prefer scrambling in the pan. I _like_ the texture of white&yolk not being 'totally homogeneous' - same for omelets - do not like just-a-yellow-colored jacket - much prefer lightly mixed white&yolk containing my (oh dear,,, I put a lot of different stuffings into omelets . . .) now... "folding" stuff for scrambled is a whole different issue than adding a cheese sauce into a souffle. not sure it's not possible to deflate the whipped egg white by 'over folding / over beating / over mixing' the cheese sauce, but using a whisk is certainly an option - but (sigh) again I go to the "you want it all homogeneous or more colorful / textural?" type personal preference. "folding" i.e. melted chocolate into whipped cream - yes - a whisk is the tool! I don't want streaks of white&choco in my Death By Chocolate Pie . . .

depends on what needs folding . . . stuff like mixed salad in a big bowl . . . a spurtle or two dueling round wooden 'paddles' - whipped egg whites for a souffle - whipped egg whites into waffle batter . . . big flexible cup shaped spatula

twas a souffle night . . .

any soup maker knows home-made is fresher, crisper, more better than anything that's been pasteurized and stored in a metal can for months/years... our absolute top dog favorite for home-made vegetable soup is from Alton Brown here: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/garden-vegetable-soup-recipe-1915670?oc=linkback the one exception for us - I use beef stock (not veg/chicken stock), and DW does not care for the lemon add.... alt good food: slice/dice/sear off a good steak - you've got a super-winner "vegetable beef soup"

that's a "maybe" - vacuum heat seal bags are typically a co-extrusion film. high density polyethylene on the outside, low density poly on the inside. the low density melts/aka "seals" at a lower temp, the high density poly / polyester outside prevents the heat sealing strip from simply cutting the bag into pieces.... the temps will depend on your make&model - also how new/tired&worn out the heat sealing mechanism/temp control is.

one thing I noticed right off - looks like the sides/ends are rising up pretty fast, and perhaps folding in? one trick I have used on soft batters - let it bake 10-15 minutes, then (open oven) sprinkle on the struesel. a smidge more (cold) butter will help with the texture - some lumps are "good" mefinds..... if you like the taste/consistency of the finished loaf - I'd reduce the yogurt as a first try. yogurt is a pretty undefined thing in terms of moisture, etc. -

I always have fresh garlic and also dried garlic powder on hand. there are situations where the dried powder works "better" - or perhaps "differently" than chopped/minced/into-paste . . . one is tonight's dinner - a pork chop, seasoned with salt/fgbp/garlic/onion powder - let stand for 2 hours - then broiled. it's very tough to get those flavors in the broiling without burning the fresh garlic/onion. and burned garlic is one super turn-off....

being a waffle lover . . . Liege, aka yeast+pearled sugar . . . it is different from the usual USA baking powder recipes. also realize,,, "Liege" waffles implies a variation specific to a region. originated there? who knows. now, baking powder vs. yeast raised is a topic of its own! perhaps the most singular distinction is the "pearled sugar" - which is basically clumped-up nuggets of granulated white sugar. done them both. I like the yeast raise with sugar clumps, but DW finds them 'too soft in the middle' so, if you like your wife/DW, you should keep your wife, and settle for other deep Belgian waffle types . . .

semi-home made cherry pie . . . store bought frozen crust, blind baked . . . Lucky Leaf cherry filled - jazzed up with almond extract left over struessel/crumb topping

good to hear the real experience - I've been pondering on it for a while! thanks for the input

hmmm, I think the one"un-miss" is the meatloaf item. seasoned ground beef - except for the literal physical "shape" - is very widespread, goes by many different names - but it's the same thing - ground beef + egg + seasoning + (?bread for) thickening." "Frikadellen" and associated near-same-name kin in northern Europe/low countries/et al . . . is basically a 'mini-meatloaf' "rattle steak" anything, obviously not going to appear in Europe... Cajun 'aka NOLA' may indeed appear in France - not qualified to answer that . . but Cajun is a blend of 'stuff' migrated 'down south' from the upper/bordering French settled/speaking areas 'up nawth'

I have long been attracted to the "egg" type ceramic grills/cookers/thingies . . . my concern has always been the time it takes to 'heat saturate' the thermal mass of such devices. I use 'real charcoal' i.e. not 'briquettes' - and I plan on starting the grilling doohickie at least one hour before the 'plunk to cook' time. I'd like to head from real life users - using real charcoal.... how long is needed to get the Big Green Egg and similar up to saturation temperature? back story . . . . attended a big ole' bash once upon a time - guy had multiple Green Eggs going for 'mass feeding' - and virtually nothing was done at the appointed time . . . apparently the Eggs were much slower to heat up than planned on . . .

being an old geezer, and having experienced the "normal" oven/pan cooking techniques . . . cooking chicken at 350'F to an internal temp of 145'F - yeah, you get some seriously overcooked chicken on the outside. same with beef, same with pork, same with fish, same with scallops, same with (everything else) this is _exactly_ the problem/issue sous vide was 'invented' to solve! if it needs to be done faster - I suggest the microwave - it too heats from the inside out . . . so they say . . .

lids. they work wonders.

ah,, nope, no steam oven - just a "usual" oven with broil/bake/convention broil/convection break . . . and a timer . . .

it's a curious technique . . . if one has the time to sous vide at 'the finished temp' one probably also has the time to simply oven cook/braise/roast/whatever . . . at a lower temp. just did this with a pork tenderloin - marinated, then oven "baked" at 145'F (digital oven control; accuracy... decent by thermometer check) it came out juicy, tender, moist, yadda yadda yadda. now, if the cookee requires hours an hours of low temp cooking in a situation where one is unable to "attend/monitor" - similar to ye' olde' crock pot - there's an advantage. something like a 5 pound tenderloin . . . sous vide equiptments (probably) have a much less varied minute-to-minute cook temp - an oven goes up and goes down - it's a 'short termish' average temp. important? open to question.... I've become a fan of oven baking/roasting at the minimum temp - perhaps 5'F above the desired finish temp. and . . . an insta-read thermometer at the ready. bottom line, for the few instances where I see sous vide has a clear advantage , , , not worth the $ and effort to seal/etc...

I thought I posted this - apparently didn't click the right thing . . . I prefer to start with dry beans . . . and still stuff like chili and stews and.... all seem to taste better 'the next day' I intentionally make it a day ahead. presoak 200g dry kidney beans overnight 200g dry weight for overnight soak =~400g soaked saltines 1 lb ground beef - salt & brown the beef then add 1 chopped onion 3/4 c green pepper chopped ===== 1 lb = 2 c tomato chunks OR ===== 2 cans dice/whole/chili canned tomato 2 small fresh tomato hand diced added near end of cooking ======= note on tomato: summer, use garden tomato. do not use winter wooden tomato on the vine; use canned whole/chopped 8 ounces tomato sauce add: 1 to 2 teaspoon chili powder 1 bay leaf (optional) 1 lb = 2 c dark red kidney beans if canned - drained; reserve bean liquor to adjust consistency - or simmer out undrained liquid (add time) check for salt - add as needed; 1 tsp salt approx total simmer about 90 minutes cool, refrigerate over-night slow reheat for service.

cool days are here . . . so it was homemade chili and saltines. recipes/technique available for any cooks who don't have one . . .

I have a collective of multiple "soft" spatulas - including some long handled ones for obnoxious stuff like mayo jars. . . . I'm in the 'use it all' camp but not really in the 'use it to the bare squeaky jar wall' camp. there is a point of diminishing returns . . . stuff like tomato sauce/canned 'anything' thickish . . . I 'clean out' with a "normal" soft spatula... split pea soup comes to mind . . . odd mind thing but . . . I suspect most home food-fixers get the drift....

waell,,,, "apple cider" is one of those 'extended' topics.... in USA one can get glass jars of 'apple juice' and 'apple cider' just about year round. in the fall, 'apple cider' in gallon plastic jugs appears - in many variations . . . the 'pasteurized' version is (perhaps) fizzy - but fermentation has been "terminated, with prejudice" often on offer . . . filter and pasteurized - that's the fizzy apple juice... other jug offerings are 'not pasteurized' - cloudy and yeah, they'll ferment more and have an alcoholic content. more likely to find them as a local fruit stand / 'alternative market' as selling fermented aka alcohol containing stuff can run afoul of your local "authorities" . . . .